I'm looking for an expression/phrase which is common for when in a discussion somebody points to the exact issue / cause of the problem or named an argument which corresponds perfectly to your own opinion. It also expresses that the argument is formulated very straightforward without any reservation and might even make others uncomfortable.

For comparison in German one would say "Den Finger auf die Wunde legen", word-by-word translation would be "You put your finger on the wound".

I only found "put your finger on the weak spot" and "to bring up the painful subject", but I guess there might be way better expressions?

"Hitting the nail on the head" is very commonly used in British English.
– JHCLOct 20 '15 at 9:13

@JHCL If you put it in an answer with a reference it certainly would get an +1 ;-)
– fiscblogOct 20 '15 at 9:15

2

@JHCL - A common expression in the US as well.
– Hot LicksOct 20 '15 at 12:12

1

In a very informal situation, sometimes a person will touch the tip of their index finger to their nose, which is an expression to mean "you got it", or "exactly right".
– Casey KuballOct 20 '15 at 18:28

1

@Darthfett - That motion means "on the nose", which means about the same as "hit the nail on the head".
– Hot LicksOct 21 '15 at 2:34

14 Answers
14

Fig. to do exactly the right thing; to do something in the most effective and efficient way.
You've spotted the flaw, Sally. You hit the nail on the head. Bob doesn't say much, but every now and then he hits the nail right on the head. (-- from idioms.thefreedictionary.com)

In English we have the same expression but without 'wound'. For that reason it may be more flexible than the German version because you can 'put your finger' on other things as well. Note that the expression usually refers to a problem or a solution to a problem. Note also that the English version of the expression pre-dates the German one by half a century or so.

Examples

There's something wrong here but I can't quite put my finger on it.

I have been trying to solve this problem for weeks but I can't put my finger on the correct solution.

The following Google ngram: put * finger on shows that the expression entered the language in the late 1700s. You can read examples by following the links at the bottom of the page.

It might be presumed that the expression came into English from German and lost the word 'wound' on the way. However that is shown to be false by examining the corresponding German Google ngram: Finger auf die Wunde which shows that that version entered the German language in the 1800s.

Actually this is very good, especially (as shown) in the negative, when you can't identify the problem. (A more common case, in my experience). +1.
– JHCLOct 20 '15 at 9:54

1

A slight difference between the English phrase and the German is that apparently the German could mean that it "might even make others uncomfortable" (from the OP's question). The English phrase "put your finger on it" definitely does not carry this connotation. In fact none of the answers here carry that connotation.
– AndyTOct 21 '15 at 9:13

@AndyT "point out the elephant in the room" has the connotation of uncomfortableness, but less of a connotation of precision.
– stanniusOct 21 '15 at 16:22

And, depending on the context, on the nose
– GeoffAtkinsOct 20 '15 at 15:14

@GeoffAtkins Yes, that was one of my first suggestion along with the others, but I had a change of heart because the way it is defined on freedictionary.com doesn't seem to fit very well with the context here.
– ElianOct 20 '15 at 15:35

The only phrase of all those suggested so far that suggests any level of discomfort to some parties is the elephant in the room for example "I'd like to address the elephant in the room; followed by whatever that thing is.

It basically is used to say "here's something we can all plainly see, so we know it to be true, but no one wants to point it out for fear of being rude or just plain stupid for stating the obvious"

Miriam-Webster defines it as:

Definition of ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: an obvious major problem or issue that people avoid discussing or acknowledging

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The phrase rain on your/the parade is also commonly used when but has less of a connotation of people feeling uncomfortable about it as more of a ruining everyone's fun connotation.